The Goodies ride once again

[primsong]

It's definitely "that season" again - coming from a Christmas party that had rockin' gingerbread cake with spiced whipped topping and cream-cheese-and-nutmeg stuffed dates to holiday events with everything from brandy beans to peppermint cookies going by it's hard to know what comes next.

We have our church Christmas event this coming Sunday, so I'm busy making marshmallow popcorn balls and green tree-shaped spritz for that, at the rate we're going I may not even need to make any Christmas cookies this time around as we'll already be full up on enough goodies to cause us to all roll out the door like that girl that turned into a blueberry in the Willy Wonka thing... but y'know... there's still those soft sugar cookies with lemon in them... and the peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate....and that amazing fruitcake with all the wine in it....

What are you making this year? Any extra good things orbiting past you?

Comments

[linaewen]

I haven't started baking yet, but I am hoping to do some today. I usually try to make Norwegian sandbakkelse, Scotch shortbread (family traditions), and some sort of ginger-flavored cookies. I'm hoping to make this for the staff Christmas party next weekend:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/magic-cookie-bars-ii/detail.aspx

I'm also thinking of trying this one -- I've not made it before but it looks easy and pretty awesome:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-decadent-truffles/detail.aspx

I expect my son will want me to make some buckeyes (peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate) and the traditional sugar cookie cutouts with frosting. So much for my diet!!

[primsong]

Those look rich but oh so tasty too! I like ones that can look fancy without too much effort involved - I just made the 'gelatin spritz' from the same site for our church event, you just dump a pack of jello into it to instantly add both flavor and color (lots of little lime christmas trees, anyone?) I added some extra food coloring and a bit of pandan to bring up the level of green, they came out pretty good.

Buckeyes! Mmmmmm. That one's a family tradition here too.

[elij_0650]

Found this lovely recipe for Salted caramel truffles on the Chelsea sugar web site and made 2 "practice" batches last month to test if I could make them successfully and if they ere OK for presents. Yes to both. The 2nd batch was much better so it was all go this weekend creating treats for friends.

Salted caramel truffles
Ingredients
½ cup Chelsea Caster Sugar
2 Tbsp water
½ cup cream
200g milk chocolate, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea-salt flakes
Extra 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
Method
Put sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to the boil. Cook for about 8-10 mins (without stirring) or until mixture turns a rich caramel colour. Add cream and shake the pan. Stir until combined then remove from heat and let bubbles subside. Add the chocolate, vanilla and half the salt, stirring until chocolate has melted.
Transfer to a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins or until firm.
Line an oven tray with baking paper. Using damp hands, roll about 2 teaspoons of the mixture into a small ball (mixture is quite soft; having damp hands makes it easier to work with). Repeat with remaining mixture. Put balls on prepared tray and refrigerate for 30 mins or until firm.
Put the extra chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until it melts and is smooth. Dip each ball into chocolate to coat. Return to prepared tray. Sprinkle tops of truffles with remaining salt. Set aside for 15 mins or until chocolate has set.